Orpha Hall, 93

Orpha Harris Hall, 93, of Mountain Home, died June 14, 2004, at Midland Care Center in Nampa after a long illness.

Services will be held at the Mountain Home LDS Church in Mountain Home at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 17, under the direction of Summers Funeral Homes, McMurtrey Chapel.

Orpha was born May 26, 1911, in St. John, Idaho. She attended schools in St. John and Malad City and graduated from Malad High School.

Orpha was raised as one of six sisters on a farm in St. John. She learned how to milk cows and do chores since "there were no boys in her family and those tasks generated the strength that later fueled her hard work and athletic accomplishments," her family said.

"Orpha was a woman before her time," her family added. " She was a tower of strength both inside and outside her household and family. She was both an accomplished homemaker and athlete."

As a high school student she began playing piano in a dance band and played for many years in the Malad and Pocatello valleys. She later played ukulele for many sing-a-longs in Mountain Home and became a superb organ player in her home, entertaining friends with her talent and skill on that instrument.

After loving fishing for many years, and after her husband Perce was instrumental in establishing a golf course in Mountain Home, Orpha took up golf in midlife and, in addition to several Mountain Home City Championships, also won the Idaho State Senior Women's Golf Championship.

"Many a male golfer in Mountain Home tasted the thrill of defeat when playing against Orpha,"her family said.

"In addition to her athletic and musical skills, Orpha was also a fabulous homemaker, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. "

She is survived by: her husband of 67 years, Perce Hall of Mountain Home (now living in Boise); two sons, Dr. Stanton H. Hall of Seattle,Wash., and his wife, Sharon, and Richard E. Hall of Boise and his wife, Tonya; two sisters, Maisie, of Cherry Creek, Idaho, and Bonnie of Bountiful, Utah, and seven grandchildren.

Orpha was preceded in death by her parents, Arch and Mae Harris, of St. John, and three of her sisters, Millie, Rula and Katie.